Shuffle Up: Mookie, Trout, everybody else in the outfield

Ah, the outfield. Land of all the fun stats. If you can keep your players on the field, you might just get somewhere.

The numbers don’t matter in a vacuum; what matters is how the player prices relate to one another. Assume a 5×5 scoring system, as always. Everyone listed here has outfield eligibility in the Yahoo game at the current time. Players at the same cost are considered even. I’m not ranking the injured guys; it just becomes a silly game of “Who has the most injury optimism?”

Trout versus Betts is a fun MVP discussion, if the season ended on Memorial Day. Betts wins in average, slugging, offensive WAR, baserunning metrics. Trout has the better OBP, the better defensive WAR (ha ha, defensive metrics), and obviously has a park disadvantage. If I had to pick one or the other, I’d lean Betts (if healthy) because of his park and supporting cast. But Trout is obviously a force of nature and is never a bad pick at No. 1 overall. The Angels really need to rethink their lineup, get more OBP guys in front of Trout. Andrelton Simmons is being wasted in the middle of the order.

I’ve been highly critical of Schwarber over his brief career, but time to accept the reality. He’s grown into a nice player; ironically, by trimming down. Walks up, strikeouts down, and he’s no longer a pylon in left field, either. He might never fully solve lefties, but it’s a right-handed world anyway. Heck, he’s even stolen a couple of bases. Well played, player . . . The power could vanish on Markakis at any time. Everything else in his profile makes sense. It’s also a stacked lineup, though it looks like Ronald Acuna might be out for a while . . . I get why Mazara’s pop bustout concerns people, because he’s hitting less fly balls and he’s not making more contact. But his hard-hit rate is increased and he’s pulling the ball more. Tie that to his experience level (Year 3) and maybe he’s learning how to drive the ball when he gets a pitch he wants or a favorable count. Knowing how fun Arlington can be in the summer, I’m still very bullish here.

Buxton needs to clear his head and get some confidence back. He’s unlikely to ever be a batting-average guy, but he’s automatic on the bases and does have some power. You can only push him so far down this list, because he’ll always have plausible upside. The Twins might want to stop pinch-hitting for him as often as they do, because it might be messing with Buxton’s head . . . If the Pirates had a full-time opening for Meadows right now, he’s into double digits . . . The Pumpkin Risk is high on Gonzalez. He’s striking out six percent more often and having a slightly-unfavorable BABIP season after a fortunate one. He won’t run enough to push the needle. He’s not a pylon in the field, but he has no plus position . . . As usual, I’d go a lot higher on Adams if his team would commit to him. He could be Schwarber-East, if Washington will let it happen.

Gamel is quietly on a .339/.423/.435 month, with three steals in the last week. Batted second Sunday, had three hits. Unfortunately, the Mariners actually think Denard Span will help them, so Gamel is just a deeper-league guy for now . . . Maybe pump up Dietrich a little bit for his versatility. And the Marlins have to play him, for better or for worse. He’s more of a boring stat-counting player in leagues where at-bats are high currency, but in deeper mixed we need some of those guys, too . . . I thought Fowler would be reasonable productive before he broke down inevitably. Instead, he was awful, and now he’s dinged up. Everyone’s steady and reliable, until they’re not. The Cardinals fancy themselves contenders and need to do better.